


Observations of a Feline Nature

by orphan_account



Category: Rivers of London
Genre: M/M, Non-human POV, Seawoll owns a cat, or does the cat own him?, very obscure references to sexual content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 04:21:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23005666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The relationship of Alexander Seawoll to Thomas Nightingale, through the eyes of his cat.
Relationships: Thomas Nightingale/Alexander Seawoll
Comments: 13
Kudos: 17





	Observations of a Feline Nature

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Margot_Lescargot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Margot_Lescargot/gifts), [Nantai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nantai/gifts), [Perching_Owl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perching_Owl/gifts).



> For *cough* certain people who thought it wise to encourage me to write a fic from the PoV of a cat.  
> I give you Cat Fic

The first time his human brought the new human home with him Archimedes was still young. No longer a kitten, but still not quite grown, as he found out later. He’d already been the largest cat in his neighbourhood at that point.

He had already lost his humans once, and at first he thought the strange human was going to take him away again. Archimedes quite disliked that notion. His human was fully functional and - when he could be persuaded to do so - prepared him better meals than his old humans had done.

But - to his utter surprise - neither of the humans paid him any mind, engaged in, undoubtedly, mindless chatter. Humans were, after all, not capable of anything more complicated. 

They ate proper food, of which Archimedes was given absolutely nothing, and then moved into his bedroom, where they - to add even further insult - closed the door behind them.

He saw neither of them for the duration of several naps on the armchair, until the strange human, smelling of Archimedes’ human and sweat and semen, left the bedroom for the bathroom, and Archimedes positioned himself in front of the door and waited.

The strange human wasn’t surprised to see him there and - with a notion that endeared him to Archimedes forever - went into the kitchen to offer Archimedes some treats, and then left the door to the bedroom open so Archimedes could follow him inside and curl up on his bed.

…

Two winters passed and the strange human kept coming, slowly becoming familiar to Archimedes, until he no longer could describe him as strange. His new human was smaller than his old one, and refused to carry Archimedes like his other human did. But he did let him lie on his lap, and gave good ear scratches, so Archimedes forgave him the vital flaws he had. He even fed him proper food once in a while, when he thought his other human wouldn´t see, so Archimedes purred extra loudly when his new human was petting him. 

The humans kept behaving like on the first night he had met his new human, sometimes spending time on his sofa with the talking box, taking up so much space that Archimedes had to move to the armchair, before moving to his bed. At first they had still closed the door behind them at night, but Archimedes had strongly disapproved, and had made his opinion known, like every good cat did, and after several nights of this his humans finally saw reason.

Then they human had their fight, loud and long enough that Archimedes decided to take a stroll around the neighbourhood, and when he came back his new human was gone, and didn´t reappear for a long time.

…

With the new human gone his old, and now only, human became sad and melancholy, and Archimedes finally found himself properly appreciated by his human, as he received more pets and cuddles than he had ever done before. He slept curled up to his human at night, softly purring to make him feel better, and allowed him to put his arm over him.

Something else he appreciated were the soft, warm sweaters his human began to wear more often, whenever he was alone at the flat. 

Still Archimedes missed the human he had lost, and the random, strange humans that replaced the other one for short intervals weren´t able to make up for it. One stayed longer than the others, reappearing several times, but Archimedes absolutely despised him. He was nearly as large as his human, but slimmer, and he seemed to dislike Archimedes nearly as much as he was in return. He insisted on keeping the door to the bedroom closed at all times, keeping Archimedes from sleeping in his bed with his human. So Archimedes hissed at him and the human made a swipe at him as if he wanted to hit him. His human saw, and that was that on the matter.

The nice lady human who always brought treats for Archimedes kept coming over, she had done so before the other human had entered his life, and Archimedes was fairly sure she wouldn´t leave like he had done, just like the shorter human, who never stayed over night like others would, and had - to Archimedes´ extensive knowledge - never entered the bedroom. 

This went on for nearly as long as the other human had been in his life, until, suddenly he was back.

...

His other human returned without warning, suddenly following Archimedes´ human up the stairs to the flat.

Some might say Archimedes had thrown himself at him. Archimedes hadn´t. He had approached the human at a normal, reasonable speed, to allow him the pleasure of kneeling in front of him and scratching his ears.

The human had said something, cooing at Archimedes, but whatever he had been trying to communicate, Archimedes was sure it had something to do with his adoration for him, and was more than satisfied.

He followed his newly regained human for the rest of the night, never leaving him out of view, in case he disappeared again. That night he slept curled up against both of his humans, happy to have both of them with him again.

...

With both of his humans back in his life things began to return to the comfortable standard that had existed before the fight had happened. 

Lazy nights on the sofa with his humans, belly rubs and ear scratches, courtesy of his new human, who was better at ear scratches than anyone else Archimedes had ever encountered, followed by nights in bed with both of them.

Something had changed between his humans, they appeared to be gentler with each other, touching less in the ways they had done before and more in ways they hadn´t. They had stopped sniffing and cleaning each other as often as they had before. It worried Archimedes, that his humans had stopped behaving as they used to.

But then, finally, his humans began sniffing each other again, more thoroughly than they really had need to. Only certain places were worth sniffing in his opinion, but when his humans did that, he was banished from his bed like a naughty kitten. Humans were stupid like that. He would need to show his humans again how it was done, the next time he crossed paths with a worthy recipient. How fortunate they were to have him

Sometimes they were joined by other humans, strange humans he never saw again after one night, and on those nights he  _ was  _ still locked out of his bedroom, and had to sleep on the cushion his human had bought him. 

…

During one winter his human disappeared for several days, and instead his new human came to feed Archimedes, each time only succeeding to do so shortly before Archimedes would have succumbed to the sweet beckoning of death. He always stayed for a while, giving Archimedes the love and attention he deserved, but would, ultimately leave him again, so Archimedes had to spend his nights utterly alone and unloved. 

When his suffering had reached a point at which Archimedes believed that he could no longer survive, his new human brought along a small lady human and, by the smell of it, a kitten.

Archimedes didn´t think much of kittens. They were incapable, demanding and accident prone, and the last thing he wanted to do was share his flat and humans with one. 

And, after Archimedes had been subjected to a maltreatment from the small lady human that left him with an absolutely horrid appearance, his human finally returned home.

He smelled a bit differently, like he always did for a few days, and even though he very much desired to greet his human Archimedes stayed where he was lounging on the armchair, and watched as his human spotted the little one for the first time, who, in the few hours she had been in Archimedes´ flat, had knocked over several things and tried to scratch on the sofa. At the moment she was curled up on the new human´s lap, as if she hadn´t tried to go on Archimedes´ pillow.

His human looked as suspicious as Archimedes felt, and he hoped that would mean that the little one would soon be gone again, and he could go on with his existence as the sole owner of his humans.

But after some shocked noises and both humans conversing in their strange, incoherent way, the little one was presented to his human, and was even allowed to settle against his human´s comfortable looking chest. Archimedes´ human. 

So the little one stayed. Pity.

...

The little one grew on him. Not much, but enough to allow her to curl up to him whenever he was taking a nap, and sometimes indulged her in a playful chase around the flat.

She had her merits. His human no longer suspected him when something was broken or thrown around, even if it was the new human who did it. There was suddenly more food at meal times, and his humans were more inclined to give them both treats than they had been when it had only been Archimedes.

Sometimes it was amusing to watch her shooting around the room in the mornings, after they had given food, jump up on the headpiece of his armchair, then turn and sprint to the opposite wall. It was especially amusing when she didn´t turn on time and rattled full on against the wall. His human, for some reason didn´t think it was amusing, but he was, after all, only a human, so what could one do. They simply weren´t as mentally advanced as he was.

The little one would come up to him and clean him, and Archimedes´ fully enjoyed this, closing his eyes and purring intensely to show his appreciation. There was no need to return the favour. She was only a kitten.

Archimedes didn´t know whether it was causation or correlation, but his other human visited them more as time went on 

He didn´t like the little one. Not at all.

...

Then, maybe seven winters after Archimedes had first met the strange, new human, something - Archimedes wasn´t sure what - happened.

Slowly, over some time, all the things in his flat disappeared, packed into boxes and, one by one, carried out of his flat. Archimedes watched this with quite some interest, and used every opportunity that presented itself to try out the boxes himself and the little one eagerly followed his example. It wouldn´t do that only inanimate objects were allowed to experience the joy of being in a box.

Another thing had changed. Both of his humans wore a cold metal ring around one of their fingers, uncomfortable against Archimedes´ fur when they were scratching and stroking him. They seemed happier, for some inexplicable reason, sniffing each other even more than they had done before, and - when they were alone, and the new human wasn´t there - his old human made the most terrible noises Archimedes had ever been forced to witness. When this happened he begged his farewell through the window over the roof, until he felt sure that his human was finished with whatever ritual he was performing. 

And then, when only the bare necessities still were at his flat, his humans brought him and the little one their own boxes, not out of cardboard but something sturdier, with a soft fabric in it, and took with them to their new home.


End file.
